Shade's Veil was an artifact known within the ancient Imaskar Empire. It was once thought to be one of the Imaskarcana.[1][note 1]
History[]
An alliance of Imaskari archwizards known as the Cabal of Madness created a number of masks known as the Faces of Madness, each themed around a school of magic, over decades after striking a bargain with horrors from beyond their world. Shade's Veil was one of them. Each of those major artifacts were created with a curse that only the creator knew how to avoid. Before they were able to implement their plans, however, the Mulan rebelled with the aid of their gods, ultimately destroying Imaskar as a nation. In the resulting tumult, the masks were scattered.[1]
Appearance[]
Shade's Veil was a curved, dull metal plate covering the wearer's whole face, hiding their features but still allowing them to see. Leather straps secured it to their head.[1]
Powers[]
Shade's Veil granted its wearer a continuous, powerful resistance to illusion spells of shadow creation, as strong as that of the strongest conventional magic items, and empowered their's own with a boost to defeat innate resistances against spells. It boosted their perniciousness as well, making the mettle required to thwart such a spell far, far higher. It also granted the ability to see perfectly without light, and to drain the strength of foes with a touch at least thrice a day, more if the wearer's force of personality was sufficiently strong. Finally, they got the ability to cast, thrice a day, their choice of shadow walk, project image, greater shadow evocation and shades.[1]
However, every time the mask was removed, the wearer was struck by a curse that drained their lifeforce. Those who were slain by this curse were turned into a shadow until a spell akin to limited wish or stronger was used to bring them back to life.[1]
Appendix[]
Notes[]
- ↑ In its initial appearance, it was an Imaskarcana; one of its sister artifacts amongst the Faces of Madness is referred to as a False Imaskarcana on The Grand History of the Realms, retconning it as no longer an Imaskarcana, since the official Imaskarcana have been revealed as predating them.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Robert Sullivan (March 2001). “Bazaar of the Bizarre: Imaskarcana: Faces of Magic”. In Dave Gross ed. Dragon #281 (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 86–89.